XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. on Thursday widened its losses in the first quarter, but doubled revenues and increased the number of subscribers by 72 percent.

The Washington, D.C., company reported a net loss of $149.2 million for the quarter ended March 31, compared with a loss of $119.9 million during the same period a year ago. Losses increased as subscriber acquisition costs rose to $62 per new subscriber in the quarter from $52 a year ago.

Revenues doubled to $208 million from $103 million a year ago. The increase was driven by year over year subscriber growth and a price hike that went into effect in the second quarter of last year. XM's customer base increased to 6.5 million subscribers at the end of the quarter from 3.8 million a year ago.

XM, which airs Major League Baseball, continues to spend heavily on programming to attract subscribers. In May, the company plans to debut a weekly one-hour music show hosted by rock legend Bob Dylan. In June and July it's scheduled to air the FIFA World Cup 2006 soccer tournament in English, and in September "Oprah & Friends," a talk show hosted by popular TV personality Oprah Winfrey.